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Veronica
O'Neill - A Case In Point

Veronica O'Neill loved her home, she had lived there for
forty years, during which time she raised her six children
sending them all to collage. In her autumn years, Veronica
liked to tend to her garden.

Veronica had
moved into her home at number 4 Coultry Gardens, Ballymun,
Dublin shortly after the house was built in 1966. She
was one of the first tenants to by their home in Ballymun
from Dublin City Council.

Veronica's
home was one of 17 houses in Coultry Gardens, Ballymun
when regeneration arrived with promises of better houses
and a better life.

However, the
new houses built by Ballymun Regeneration Limited
(BRL) were smaller than the existing ones and had no gardens,
just a space to park a car by the footpath. Veronica,
unlike her neighbours, refused to move. This woman in
her eighties enjoyed her garden and wanted "like
for like".

BRL knocked
all the other houses in Coultry Gardens. The houses either
side of Veronicas home were knocked roughly and a JCB
was parked in front of number 4. But the intimidation
didn't stop there, anonymous and threatening letters were
shoved through her letter box and Veronica's windows were
broken, something that had never happened to Veronica
in her forty years living in Ballymun.

BRL credited
this to anti-social behaviour, although a more likely
target for such activity, the JCB, was never vandalised.

The media was
also used against Veronica.

On 17 September
2006, an article in The Sunday Tribune bySarah
McInerneydescribed the situation as "The
single house that's holding up the rebuilding of Ballymun
- Family refuses to budge from property on site of massive
north Dublin regeneration scheme".

"The house at number four Coultry Gardens in Ballymun
was due to be demolished three months ago and is still
top of the demolition list today. The only thing stopping
the wrecking ball from swinging through the front door
is the continued presence of its owner, who quite simply
doesn't want to leave".

The article
gave the impression that Veronica didn't know what was
good for her.

Veronica did.
She took BRL and Dublin City Council (DCC) to court. The
judge ruled that Veronica was entitled to "like
for like". It cost DCC €500,000 to buy Veronica
a similar size house with front and back gardens elsewhere
in Dublin.

So remember,
like Veronica, you're entitled to like for like.

Above:
A house in Ballymun similar to Veronica O'Neills
home in Coultry Gardens. (photo taken 08/04/09)

Above:
Timber frame regeneration boxes with no gardens, similar
to the one that Veronica refused. (photo taken
08/04/09)

Above:
The site where Veronica's house once stood.
(photo taken 08/04/09)